It will truly be a disgrace and a serious black eye for the city if a recent report evaluating the New York City Housing Authority does indeed show that the agency failed to spend hundreds of millions in federal aid while it left thousands of families living in deplorable conditions.

The report is apparently complete, but the city has failed to release it to the public. Is it because it does indeed show that NYCHA is in such a state of mismanagement that it has failed for years to provide adequate living conditions, as so many people suspect?

Public housing in New York City was instrumental in helping the city’s less fortunate get a leg up and find their was to a better housing situation – even home ownership – opening up a place to live to provide the next person or family with the same opportunity.

But over the years, public housing – or “the projects” as public housing is often derogatorily referred to – has gotten a bad name. It’s no longer a step up; it’s a final stop, where unemployment is high and crime is rampant.

At least that’s the perception.

Now it could be that some of the issues surrounding public housing are not socioeconomic, but rather systemic and institutionalized. Perhaps it’s the city itself that is failing public housing?

Again, the report has not been officially released, but the small excerpts that have seen the light of day would seem to be as critical as rumored.

And if that’s the case, then NYCHA is in need of a complete overhaul. On page 8 of this newspaper, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer lays out a plan to reform the authority, increase accountability, and give the people who actually live in public housing more input.

We don’t necessarily endorse his plan, but it’s an idea and something needs to be done if NYCHA is failing public housing residents as badly as it seems.

You may not live in public housing. Perhaps you don’t even live anywhere near a public housing complex, so you might not think that you care about issues surrounding NYHCA.

If that’s your situation, remember that kids who live in public housing go to the same schools as your kids, they ride the same subways as you, and you cross paths with them every day.

When the living conditions in New York City improve for all residents, then everyone benefits.